Weeds are undesirable plants that rapidly grow in gardens, planters, and lawns. Controlling and preventing weed growth is crucial to healthy plant maintenance. If not controlled, weeds can quickly overtake a lawn or garden, strangling desirable plants and blocking grass from receiving crucial sunlight.
Many types of products exist for controlling and preventing weeds; from selective herbicides (e.g. Weed-be-Gone), to complete herbicides (e.g. Round-up), to fiber barriers. Selective herbicides are effective at controlling and killing existing weeds, however, they do not prevent new ones from growing. Also, selective herbicides may also harm desirable, broadleaf, plants. Complete herbicides are extremely effective at killing anything green and temporarily prevent new weeds from growing. However, as the name suggests, complete herbicides will kill both weeds and desirable plants, thus, limiting their use.
Fiber barriers are nonwoven polymer fabrics also known as “landscape fabrics” or “geotextiles.” These are typically UV stabilized and shrink proof polypropylene spunbound or meltblown nonwoven fabrics dyed black, brown, gray, or white and sold in rolls to contractors or retail stores. The main purpose of fabric is to suppress weed growth while allowing water, air, herbicides, fertilizer, and insecticides to flow into the soil. Weed control typically ranges from 1-15 years, depending on the quality of the barrier and how it is applied.
Weed barriers serve four significant functions: weed restriction, soil separation, reinforcement, and filtration. Additional advantages of weed barriers include: reduces watering, allows nutrients and air to permeate, reduces garden maintenance, promotes the growth of plant roots, minimizes erosion and loss of mulch due to soil intrusion, lower environmental impact than herbicides, long lasting weed control, and resists mildew, rotting, and insect invasion. Common locations for use include: golf courses, urban medians, residential homes, plant containers, and gardens.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0178272 discloses a spray-on weed blocking film made from a mixture of binding agent, wetting agent, dispersing agent, stabilizing agent, and a filler material. The filler material comprises powdered clay. Total solids in the mixture is between 40%-60% by weight mixture.